Last modified on Fri 23 Apr 2021 05.08 EDT
So which country has the highest target?
Well, it’s complicated. The UK has committed to cut emissions at a faster rate than other developed nations, with a target of 68% cuts by 2030. That’s measured against its emissions in 1990; over the last few years emissions have been reduced, so measured against the 2018 baseline, for example, the cut needed is smaller.
But the UK’s emissions are small in global terms, only about 2% of global emissions compared with 15% for the US. So the cuts of 50% to 52%, compared with 2005 levels, by 2030 announced by the US will have a greater impact.
Last modified on Thu 22 Apr 2021 01.56 EDT
Developing countries are increasingly concerned that their need for financial assistance to cope with the climate crisis will go unmet, as leaders of the world’s biggest economies meet for a virtual White House summit on the climate.
Joe Biden, the US president, is hosting more than 40 world leaders virtually over the next two days to discuss ways of fulfilling the 2015 Paris climate agreement, and to encourage leading economies to bring forward plans for cutting greenhouse gas emissions in the next decade.
Such plans will be crucial to limiting global heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, in line with scientific advice. But alongside these pledges, developing countries are seeking strong new commitments on another crucial area: climate finance, the flow of money from public and private sector sources in the rich world to help the poor world reduce emissions and cope with the intensifying impacts of extreme weather.
The U.S. credibility chasm on climate change
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
The biggest hurdle for President Biden in winning new emissions reduction commitments at this week s White House summit is America s on-again, off-again history of climate change efforts.
Why it matters: The global community is off course to meet the temperature targets contained in the Paris Climate Agreement. The White House wants the summit Thursday and Friday to begin to change that.
The Paris agreement called for warming to be limited to well below 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, relative to preindustrial levels.
However, the world is currently on course for 3 degrees Celsius, or 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit, of warming, which raises the odds of potentially disastrous consequences.
Article Date
April 15, 2021
The Yemen Accountability Project (YAP) at Case Western Reserve University School of Law has published its second white paper, “Starvation: Building the Case for Prosecuting Starvation Crimes in Yemen.” The 51-page document examines evidence from 2015 to 2018 that illustrates patterns of widespread attacks on civilian objects indispensable to survival, such as food production and water supply, and outlines avenues for bringing charges against perpetrators of these crimes.
This publication is the product of three years of work by the YAP team, and follows last year’s successful release of the white paper “Aiding and Abetting: Holding States, Corporations, and Individuals Accountable for War Crimes in Yemen.”
Governors Wind Energy Coalition
Biden Wants Leaders to Make Climate Commitments for Earth Day Source: By Lisa Friedman, New York Times • Posted: Thursday, April 15, 2021
The administration is closing in on deals with some close allies, but agreements with powers like China, Brazil and India are proving difficult.
John Kerry, the U.S. climate envoy, will visit China in preparation for the President Biden’s climate summit on Earth Day, April 22.Anna Moneymaker for The New York Times
WASHINGTON The Biden administration is nearing agreements with Japan, South Korea and Canada to bolster carbon emission reduction targets in all four countries ahead of a closely watched summit of global leaders on Earth Day, April 22.